December, 2020 - Of Art and Wine

The Bad Boy Monk, and Holiday Dessert Wines.

Madonna and Child with Two Angels by Fra Filippo Lippi, c. 1460 Click image to magnify.

It’s the Christmas season, and in the Western world, images showing the story of the Christ child’s birth are everywhere. Many of these come from the Renaissance and are done by the famous painters of that age. Most were simple commissions, but some of them have more to the story than what is shown in the painting. We will get to what other story is being told here in a moment. For now, let’s just look at this painting.

A beautiful young woman, Mary, sits with her hands clasped as though in prayer with eyes downcast, as two angels lift up her newborn son. One of the angels looks out at us with a smile on his face, so happy he is to be present at this moment. The other angel’s face is rudely obscured by the child’s arm, but the child is Jesus. The baby reaches in a realistic fashion for his mother. Her hair is done up under a somewhat transparent headdress of the type worn by middle-class women in 15th century Italy, and her dress one common to that period. The angels themselves seem to be dressed like choirboys. It is said that this was done to make the figures more relatable to the people of the time, as if to say,”See, they are just like us.”

This painting takes it even further by having the Madonna and the angels come out of the picture frame (notice it is a frame not a window) to be even closer to the viewer, as if they are moving into our reality. Mary even casts a shadow on the picture frame like a real physical object would. Mary, as well, is decidedly a very pretty young woman and a very appealing one. The baby, unlike many that had been painted of the Christ child, actually looks like a real baby, not a small half-naked adult, which was a common look in the middle ages. One may ask, why is the focus on such realism? Why are the figures being drawn near to us? What does this Carmelite friar know about soft beautiful women and chubby cuddly babies?

Time to introduce the painter of this masterpiece, Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-1469). As opposed to his more pious companion in this picture, Coronation of the Virgin (1441-1447), in which all eyes are on the proceedings, Lippi, in this self-portrait seems to have his mind elsewhere. (You can see the full painting here travelingintuscany.com.) That look makes you wonder if while confessing your sins to this priest, would he confess his to you? And many the sins there were. A lustful fellow, he left the monastery at age 30 though he remained a friar his whole life. He was involved in various money scandals, lying, and cheating, but the biggest was when at age 50 he seduced a beautiful 20-year-old nun, Lucrezia Buti. In fact he more than seduced her; they ran off together and had a baby son.

Scandalous? Yes, but not necessarily unheard of in those days, as this nun’s convent was picked clean of its beautiful young acolytes until the only one left was the mother superior, who then died. So why was all this hanky-panky allowed? Well, it’s complicated. The main complication is how some of these people came to be monks and nuns to begin with. In Lippi’s case, he was orphaned at the age of eight and was given into the care of the Carmelites. While he loved and venerated the Carmelite order, he just wasn’t cut out to be a priest. As for Lucrezia and her sister, becoming nuns was the way to escape disasterous marriages. Obviously, people being people, there were any number of odd circumstances not in keeping with the dictates of these holy orders. However, in Lippi’s case, he had an ace in the hole, and that was his talent, something much prized by Cosimo de Medici, who literally ruled Florence at that time.

Some stories about Lippi have him taken into the Carmelite order after he was found drawing in the dirt, creating magnificent figures. He certainly would have seen the great Masaccio working on the Brancacci Chapel inside Santa Maria del Carmine (1420-28), making his figures come to life in a style of rendering not seen since before the Dark Age. It would have been a great surprise to Lippi at that early time to know who would finish painting that chapel some 60 years after Masaccio’s death in 1428. That aside, Lippi became the greatest artist in Florence after the death of Fra Angelico in 1455. As such, he had the protection of Cosimo de Medici, who smoothed over this little business of the seduction, the getaway, and the child. Of course Lippi had to produce wonderful things for his patron. One of the most wonderful of which is the painting below, The Adoration in the Forest (1459). Done as the crowning glory of the Medici Chapel which pictures the journey of the Wise Men to adore the holy child as presented in this painting, it is one of the most mystical versions of what is considered a familiar scene in the iconography of Christianity.

The Adoration in the Forest by Fra Filippo Lippi, 1459. Originally done for the Medici Chapel, a copy is now in the chapel. The original is in the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin. Click image to magnify.

Detail from Adoration in the Forest showing the delicate gold work which falls from this point in spirals of golden points of light down to where the enfant lies. Click image to magnify.

This painting is unusual in so many ways. It is not the normal scene of a nativity set in a stable with a cow and a donkey peeking in from a side stall, Joseph holding a lantern, an assortment of shepherds, and a star shining in the distance guiding the caravan bearing the three Magi. Here the setting is a dark rocky outcrop within the density of a forest. John the Baptist as a child stands on the left already wearing his hairshirt. Above him is a praying figure. Some say it is St Romuald a favorite of the Medici family, or perhaps the Archbishop of Florence. Others claim it is St. Bernard de Clairvaux, known for his adoration and devotion to the Virgin Mary. Divine light falls from above in streams of golden sparkles that fall upon the baby lying on a bed of flowers. Mary, dressed in pale blue trimmed in gold, looks on in adoration, as was considered the appropriate way to show the Virgin and the newborn child since the vision of St. Bridget of Sweden in the early 1300s.

The painting was placed in an alcove designed for private prayer and is the culminating point for the grand Procession of the Magi painted by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Medici Chapel, showing the wonderful treasures that the three kings were bringing to give to the child. In a room originally lit only by candlelight, the procession is a giant nocturne, showing all the exotic products that merchants like the Medici were able to procure. All these were not for profit, but to be given in worship.

Of course, this was Cosimo de Medici’s way of trying to buy his way into heaven after having grown rich and powerful through his banking and trading efforts. The Church frowned upon lending money and charging interest, deeming it usury. Usury was a sin and forbidden. Cosimo in his last years was very much worried about not being forgiven for committing this sin, so he prayed fervently at this personal altar piece painted by Lippi, yet another sinner. Perhaps Cosimo felt it wise to show mercy to the notorious Lippi as a sign that he might in turn be granted the same.

Sins aside, the painting, which is sometimes called the Mystical Nativity, captivates the viewer by its odd setting and the wonderful use of gold to capture tiny points of light. (To see more on this painting with excellent photography look at this video on Filippo Lippi youtube.com.) The main benefit for Lippi was that Cosimo was well pleased, and Lippi was able to spend some happy years living in Prato with his family. There he painted the frescoes on either side of the altar in the Church of San Stefano. Not surprisingly, on one side in the story of John the Baptist, there is a version of Herod’s banquet in which dances a Salome with the familiar face of Lucrezia. On the opposite wall in the story of San Stefano, Lippi paints himself casting a side eye in the direction of Salome.

Salome Dancing in Herod’s Banquet and a self-portrait of Lippi in a crowd scene, both from the Church of San Stefano in Prato, Italy.

And what happened to the son, the one who modeled for the beautiful child lying on a bed of delicately painted flowers? Well, here he is. His name was Filippino. He became a painter, and quite a successful one. In fact, it was he who was chosen by the Carmelites to finish the paintings in the Brancacci Chapel nearly 60 years after all work on it had stopped. How that might have surprised his father, who as a boy had seen Masaccio creating those figures so life-like that they shocked the whole of Florence. But Filippino had his own story. (To Be Continued…)

Sources for this article include the Art in Tuscany articles on the Madonna and Child with Two Angels travelingintuscany.com and Adoration in the Forest travelingintuscany.com, as well as Medici Money by Tim Parks. Notes from an art history class and two personal visits to the Medici Chapel were also used.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Dessert Wines for the Holidays

It is rather a matter of sweets to the sweets when it comes to combining dessert wines with actual edible desserts. It requires some subtle balancing of levels of sugar and a happy bit of taste testing in order to get it just right. A few simple rules do apply. One is to match acidity with acidity. When this does not work, things go downhill really quickly. The other is to make sure the wine is sweeter than the dessert so that the wine’s taste is not deadened by the sugar in the dessert. Finally, and this is for aesthetics and to eliminate cognitive dissonance, match the color of the wine to the color of the dessert. Tim Hong, a certified sommelier, provides a quick and easy to remember guide to such matters in his video, “Best Guides for Dessert Wines,” youtube.com.

Sweet wines are developed in a number of ways. Some come from late harvest grapes. In fact one of the types of Riesling is known as spatlese, meaning late havest. These grapes have a greater concentration of sugars. Another way to increase the sugar content of the grape in relation to the water content is to use grapes suffering from “noble rot. ” This term refers to grapes that benefit from a fungus called Botrytis cinerea, which saps the water content, leaving more of the sugar in the grapes. Then there is ice wine, which was a discovery of necessity in 1794 in Franconia, Germany, when a sudden hard freeze came earlier than expected. To salvage something from the hurried harvest, the vinters created a sweet wine. The Canadians are currently the past masters of ice wines, even serving them inside an igloo, should that capture your fancy (see youtube.com).

Photo credit to Antoine Pouligny on Unsplash.com

Generally dessert wines come in three categories: Port and Madeira, Sherry, and Sweet Sticky. Port and Madeira tend to be more expensive but compensate for the higher cost by lasting longer once opened. The colors range from tawny to very dark brown and the taste includes caramel with some nuttiness. Madeira is not so sweet or dense as other ports. Sherry is often oxidized, which brings out the flavors of nuts and dried fruits. It pairs well with blue cheeses and aged Gouda.

Of course one must never forget sparkling wines with desserts. They can be very high in acidity and quite dry which can go well with desserts that are less sugary, like baked apples or apple tarts with shortbread crust. Sparkling Shiraz with its rather silky tannins actually goes well with chocolate desserts, whereas often the cocoa content in chocolate can come into conflict with the tannins in wine. This is especially true with dark chocolate. Aldo Sohm, owner of the Aldo Sohm Wine Bar in his video on pairing wine with desserts shows himself to be quite daring, but even he stays away from wine and dark chocolate. (youtube.com)

He does go on about using wines other than dessert wines to pair with desserts. Cabernets bring a freshness to the palate, while Gewurtztraminer being dry works well with desserts like rich fruit tarts. Though he shys away from dark chocolate and wine, there is a fearless someone who actually goes there. Of course, it is Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly. Madeline dives into three different pairings of wine and dark chocolate desserts in a taste adventure that is as amusing as it is informative. Don’t miss this! youtube.com

You can now spend the rest of the holiday season in comfortable assurance that you have the basics to avoid pitfalls in pairing wines, and dessert wines in particular, with your desserts. Should you want to continue the adventure, Cellars Wine Club has the perfect club for you in its Sweet Wines Club. From Riesling to Moscato any wine with 20g/L of residual sugar is covered. In addition there is a no bad bottle return policy and free shipping. cellarswineclub.com

So enjoy those desserts. It’s that time of year!

Photo credit to Volodymyr Tokar on Unsplash.com

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and CellarsWineClub.co m and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2020

Coming Soon: The Lippis, Like Father, Unlike Son, and Vin Santo.

St John the Evangelist resuscitates Drusiana (1487-1502) Strozzi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, italy. Click image to magnify.

When your father is a monk and your mother is a nun, there is a lot of drama in the family to say the least. It should be no wonder that one of the hallmarks of the painting of Filippino Lippi, son of Fra Filippo Lippi, would be the rendering of emotion. His early death allowed his work to be overshadowed by Raphael, but Filippino Lippi’s work is well worth consideration for its emotive beauty.

Medici Politics, Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi, and Christmas Wines.

The Adoration of the Magi by Sandro Botticelli, 1475. Wikimedia Commons Free Media Repository

French art historian, Daniel Arasse, wrote a book called On n’y voit rien (We Don’t See Anything) in which he pointed out all of the things in paintings that float past our eyes without leaving a blip on the screen of our awareness. So take a look at this masterpiece by Sandro Botticelli and tell me what you see. Yes, go ahead, talk. I know what you are going to say. “Well, there are Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.” Okay, go on. “Uh, they are sitting in some old ruined building.” Good, what else? “There are a lot of people standing around who don’t look like shepherds.” Very good. Anything else? “Looks like the people are from the middle ages or something.” Well, the Renaissance. Does that seem strange to you? “Sure, these folks were not actually at the birth of Jesus, and what is that bird (is it a peacock?) sitting up on the building?” Ah, now we are getting somewhere. You are beginning to really observe. Very good. Any questions? “Yeah, what the heck is this all about?”

Let’s start with this guy who looks out from the lower right corner. He wears a yellowish colored robe, and we can muse on the many things that his facial expression might be saying to us.

This is a self-portrait of Sandro Botticelli, the man who was commissioned to paint this Adoration of the Magi. He was one of the favorite painters of the Medici family when they ruled Florence in the 15th century. Painters were normally considered to be just a type of servant class, workmen hired to do a job like a bricklayer or a carpenter. However, in the 15th century the royal courts of Europe began to realize the individual value of their artists. Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy, for instance, used painter Jan Van Eyck as a diplomat. Though Florence was a republic, it was lead by the Medici family, who were merchant bankers as rich and powerful as any royalty, and like the royals knew the value of art to enhance their prestige. Botticelli shows us here that he is well within the bosom of the Medici family and looks out at us as if to say, “You see me here. I’m in with the In-Crowd.”

The man facing out here is Gaspare del Lama, and he is even closer into the action of the painting, as would be appropriate for him as the man who commissioned this work. But why, you might ask, is he not right before the Holy Family? He’s paying for this painting, isn’t he? Well yes, but the painting has another purpose.

This is 15th century Florence after all and strategic thinking was of paramount importance. Gaspare del Lama was the son of a barber, who through the patronage of the Medici family rose in status as a banker himself and a financial agent for the Medici bank. As with all the wealthy of Florence, his family was able to have a chapel for itself inside of one of the city’s fine churches, Santa Maria Novella. This painting was to go inside the chapel and was designed to reflect del Lama’s appreciation for the Medici family, as well as showing in the crowd a number of other important Florentines whom the populace would have recognized. In other words, Gaspare del Lama was showing off his wealth, status, and good connections. So who are some of these other people, the real players in the life of that city-state.

This stately, gray-haired, richly dressed gentleman is Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464), known as Cosimo the Elder so as not to confuse him with his 16th century relative, Cosimo I, Duke of Tuscany. This Cosimo is the son of Giovanni de Bicci de Medici, the founder of the Medici Bank and merchant empire. Cosimo the Elder learned from his father two important things: keep your appearance low-key (Giovanni, though wealthy, rode a mule instead of a fine horse) and don’t give advice unless you are asked for it. These words of wisdom seem quite sound even in our day, though I don’t know about riding a mule.

Cosimo is seen here in the role of the oldest of the Wise Men (Magi) sometimes known as Gaspare in Italy (Balthazar in northern Europe – see my post on this name confusion at vernellestudio.com). As the eldest of the Magi, it was his duty to be front and center. In some paintings of that day, this elder man seems to be looking between the legs of the child as if to inspect to see if he is really a human baby boy. Botticelli treats that subtly here but certainly gives Cosimo pride of place. Note that at the time of this painting, Cosimo the Elder had passed on some years before, but would live on forever in this painting commissioned by someone showing his appreciation for Cosimo and his family.

Detail of Adoration of the Magi, with Piero and Giovanni de Medici, 1475 by Sandro Botticelli.

The two men pictured here are the sons of Cosimo the Elder. On the left in red is the heir apparent, Piero de Medici, known as Piero the Gouty because of his health condition. He, too, would be a patron of the arts, known in particular for commissioning Benozzo Gozzoli to paint the Medici Chapel’s famous Procession of the Magi (see The Medici Palace’s Procession of the Magi, ofartandwine.com).

Giuliano de Medici as seen in the Adoration of the Magi by Sandro Botticelli

This young man who bears something of a resemblance to Giovanni de Medici as shown above is actually one of two sons of Piero de Medici. More handsome than his brother Lorenzo, who is known as the Magnificent, because of his appreciation of culture and his patronage of the arts, Giuliano seems to have had a fascination with Simonetta Vespucci, whom he had his friend Botticelli paint a portrait of as Pallas Athena on a banner for a joust that he took part in. However, Giuliano met a tragic end on Easter Sunday in 1478 when the Pazzi Conspirators attacked the Medici brothers in church, wounding Lorenzo and killing Giuliano.

That leaves us with the last important figure in this painting, the young and rather arrogant looking Lorenzo de Medici (1449-1492) with a young friend or relative hanging on his shoulder. He and his chums seem more interested in something other than the Holy Family. Lorenzo looks in the direction of his father and uncle, while the friend on the far right actually has his hand extended, pointing in the direction of those members of Lorenzo’s family. The head of the white horse may be a reference to the Procession of the Magi by Gozzoli in which near Lorenzo is a magnificent white horse, a symbol of the power and grace of the coming generation of Medici rulers.

Lorenzo was certainly the greatest patron of the arts from the Medici family. He also took his duties as the leader of the Florentine republic seriously, including making deals with the Pope to not lay siege to the city and of course, dealing harshly with Pazzi conspirators after the attack on him and the murder of his brother in 1478. Botticelli was already a great friend of the Medici family, but it was Lorenzo who took the 13-year-old Michelangelo into his household to live and be educated along with his own children. Lorenzo’s love of the arts may have made him take his eye off the family banking business, for by the end of his life in 1492, the business was not doing well, with many of its branch banks closed across Europe. However, he will forever be known as a great patron of the arts, and his name and image are on the special prize given to artists who win in their categories the Lorenzo il Magnifico International Award in the Florence Biennale.

So Gaspare del Lama surrounded himself with the best, intending to perpetuate his fame and fortune into eternity. That is where the peacock comes in. It is a symbol of immortality. Unfortunately for Gaspare del Lama, the very next year, 1476, he was condemned for dubious financial dealings and fell into disgrace. However, he and his pride live on in this version of Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi.

For more on the Medici, the arts, and Renaissance Florence go to the first two parts of the series, The Medici, Godfathers of the Renaissance youtube.com. For more on how the Medici built their fortune, read Tim Parks Medici Money, and there are also the two blog posts mentioned earlier in this article.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor ,and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com

Christmas Wines and Holiday Cheer!

Photo from Bon Coeur Fine Wines “Cracking Christmas Wine Pairings” bcfw.co.uk

The first question is “Are there really Christmas wines?” The answer is well, yes, sort of. We know about the special mulled wine recipes which add spices to heated wine. (For more on that see “Let It Snow: Snow Paintings and Mulled Wines” ofartandwine.com) However, when dealing with major holiday meals, the basic idea is to focus on what you are serving at what stage of the meal (or the festivities). Gathering that information beforehand can lead you to arrange a pairing of wines that work well with holiday foods and thus could be called Christmas Wines.

Never let us forget that Christmas is a great celebration, and nothing is more celebratory than a glass of bubbly. Not only is it perfect for toasting the season and one another, but it also goes well with little finger foods. Prosecco works wonderfully with tiny cubes of roasted tomato bruschetta. Champagne and a plate of Brie cheese is perfection itself.

Roast Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce from onceuponachef.com

For those not wanting to do the traditional bird (turkey, goose, etc), Jenn Segal of Once Upon a Chef provides a recipe for roast beef tenderloin with red wine sauce. She uses the year’s Beaujolais Nouveau for her sauce. As for what to drink while eating this hearty beef dish, she proposes any number of red wines from Merlot to Cabernet Sauvignon to Pinot Noir. I’d say a good Cabernet Sauvignon would work well, as it is a bit lighter than the Merlot but heavier than Pinot Noir.

Now that I mention Pinot Noir, what comes to mind are two of the other favorite dishes for the holidays: turkey and ham. Pinot Noir, often called the most drinkable of the red wines, goes very nicely with these two traditional holiday favorites. The wine often adds hints of fruit like cherries which go well with turkey or ham and with vegetarian dishes. Should you not want to do a Champagne toast, rest assured that a nice Pinot Noir makes for good pre-dinner sipping as well.

Orange Marmelade Roast Turkey from Clean Eating Magazine cleaneatingmag.com

Pamela Salzman of Clean Eating gives the recipe that resulted in this wonderful culinary creation. As well, she lists all you need to know about the nutritional content of this meal. While she does not talk at all about wines to go with this dish, when one thinks of turkey, a variety of white wines come to mind, but the king of them all would be Sauvignon Blanc. The Spruce Eats website (thespruceeats.com) recommends one in particular but also gives a rundown of appropriate holiday wines in its article, “10 Bottles of Christmas Wine Under $25,” by Wallace Levy McKeel.

For those in the group who really go non-traditional (like me), one can always head for the seafood counter and select snow crab or king crab to feast upon. Then one has a choice to ponder: Sancerre or Muscadet. Here in the U.S. in most of our local wine shops, it will be easier to find Sancerre, and it is a wonderful choice. (See this article for more information vinepair.com) However, if your wine shop carries more specialty items, you might be able to get Muscadet, a wine created in the Loire-Atlantic. It is perfection with seafood.

So there it is, a bit of a roundup of what one might call Christmas Wines. As I said at the outset, it really is about pairing the wines with each dish and each moment in time during your holiday celebrations. Should you want more ideas and commentary, look at this piece from The Wine Show youtube.com.

One of the things that might go nicely as a Christmas gift is a membership to a wine club. Cellars Wine Club has a club for every level of wine enthusiasm and budget. With free shipping, a “no bad bottle” return policy, and tasting notes on each wine. Being in a wine club is a great way to end one year and ring in the new one. CellarsWineClub.com

Note: Of Art and Wine is an affiliate of Bluehost.com and CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

Coming Soon: The Bad Boy Monk, and Holiday Dessert Wines.

Madonna and Child with Two Angels, by Fra Filippo Lippi, c.1457.

So what happens when you are a talented orphan who is taken to a monastery to be cared for. You might just grow up to be a great painter, fall in love with a nun, and have a family (Oops!). The tale of Fra Filippo Lippi, his talent, and his many misdeeds is the stuff of legend. Of Art and Wine takes a look at this marvelous painter of the Italian Renaissance and prepares for you (Happy Holidays!) a little primer on dessert wines.